


Tutoring

by 11kip11



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-25 07:39:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15636219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/11kip11/pseuds/11kip11
Summary: When Marinette's grades begin to slip, her teacher assigns her a tutor- Adrien Agreste.





	Tutoring

The classroom was cold, and unusually silent. Sabrina wouldn't utter a word until she'd deciphered Chloe's mood, but her friend was too busy filing her perfectly manicured nails to start any sort of conversation. Behind them, Alex was lost in a daydream, chewing her bubble gum so obnoxiously that Myléne couldn't focus on the screenplay she was trying to write. Kim was flexing for a disinterested Max, while Juleka was staring at a drowsy Rose. Lila, with an expression of pure boredom, absently watched Nathaniel sketch a rough outline for his newest comic. Ivan wore his headphones, listening to the Zombie Skull Crushers while their teacher was absent.

Adrien was asleep. Again.

The day before there'd been an akuma attack, so he hadn't been able to study. Instead, he'd pulled an all-nighter and crammed his head full of information he probably wouldn't even need for the day's exam. Plagg was also napping in his gym bag; he'd been busy keeping Adrien awake the night before.

Alya was writing the latest update on the Ladyblog, Nino was caring for his exhausted friend, and Marinette was worrying herself sick. She hadn't gotten the chance to study, either, due to the akuma attack the day before. Instead, she'd chosen to get a good night's sleep and hope for the best.

As Ms. Bustier walked in, she realized that she needed a bit more than an alert mindset.

Ms. Bustier passed out the packets slowly, shaking Adrien's shoulder as she handed the tired boy his quiz. Adrien rubbed the sleep from his eyes and focused, feeling more prepared for the questions. They were designed not to be simple nor difficult, but rather at an intermediate level of understanding. Adrien finished his first, followed by Max, then Alex, then so on and so forth. Marinette finished her's last, knowing she hadn't gotten a good score at all.

When the bell rang, the drowsy students left the mundane atmosphere of the classroom and stumbled into the lively streets, ready to head home for the day.

The next school day passed quickly, and at the end of class, Ms. Bustier passed out the graded tests. Adrien was overjoyed to see his 100 percent, not having expected full marks. Marinette, however, slumped back in her seat. She'd only scraped a 67.

"Marinette and Adrien, please stay seated." Ms. Bustier stared at the two students as the bell rang. The other children filed out of the classroom, leaving the remaining two alone with the teacher. Ms. Bustier beckoned them forward.

"Marinette, you received the lowest score of the class." Ms. Bustier looked at the disappointed bluenette, who hung her head in shame. "This has happened very often lately; your scores on this topic have decreased greatly recently."

"Ma'am, I-"

"None of your excuses." Ms. Bustier turned to Adrien. "You, however, have gotten outstanding grades on almost every assignment I give. This is why I'd like you to tutor Ms. Dupain-Cheng."

Both student's heads snapped up, each pair of eyes filled with intense anxiousness.

"Ma'am, my training-"

"I'm sure Adrien-"

"My father-"

"I mean, it's not that I don't want to-"

"I already have a schedule-"

"And I have things I need to do-"

The teacher stood and adjusted her white blazer, then looked at the two students. "This is not up for discussion. Adrien, I have already talked to your father's assistant. Marinette, your parents are perfectly fine with you receiving help from your classmates. Mr. Damocles has agreed to allow you two to use the library for an hour every monday, wednesday, and friday until Marinette's grades improve enough. This starts tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am." The two students spoke in unison, each voice filled with a monotone resignation.

...

"Yes, Alya!" I feel like vomiting. My stomach has nervously twisted itself into knots, while a spot in the middle of my chest throbs with my anxiety. "Monday, wednesday, friday! Tutoring! As in, him teaching me! Me! He knows so much, he's so smart, he probably thinks I'm stupid, Alya!"

"Chill out, girl." Alya's voice has a layer of static over the phone. "Adrien is too nice to just assume you're not smart. Besides, you'd be a great student, if you could figure out how to form a coherent sentence within a ten foot radius of him."

I groan and roll over onto my stomach. "Not helping!"

She giggles, and I can practically hear her teasing grin through the phone. "Just think about what you'll say to him. Plan out a conversation. What'll he teach you?"

"History." I climb off of my bed and collapse on my desk chair, picking up my worn history textbook and smiling fondly at the memories it had created.

"Ouch. Hope it doesn't sound as boring as Ms. Bustier's lessons. She talks slower than my great aunt Collette walks, and my great aunt has a very old prosthetic leg." I smile, remembering the family photo I'd seen on Alya's fireplace mantle, which is the only picture I've ever seen of Alya's great aunt.

I turn to my computer and mutter into the phone, "I've got to go, Alya. Making preparations and all."

I click the end button and slide my phone to the side, letting my fingers fly over the keyboard. I begin researching our current lesson, knowing I'd need the extra help if I wanted to not look like a complete idiot in front of Adrien tomorrow.

...

With a sigh, Adrien slipped a spare container of camembert cheese into his gym bag. Today would be fun. He had tutoring after school with Marinette, who had never seemed to enjoy talking to him. She must have been dreading spending and hour with him at the end of the school day, being forced to take tutoring sessions because of her low grades. He almost wished Natalie had refused to let him help, but his only other option would be another hour of fencing.

Science was a draining class, during which Ms. Mendeleiev spent her time yelling at tired students. He kept his eyes open and tried to seem as alert as possible. Eventually his back had begun to slump over and his eyelids drooped, the same achromatic atmosphere sucking each child of their usually lively energy.

"Agreste!" Ms. Mendeleiev barked, startling the entire classroom. "Pay attention, please! What did I just say?"

"Um," Adrien scanned the chalkboard quickly, looking at circled symbols and underlined words. "The magnetic properties of the elements?"

"That's which elements contain magnetic properties, Mr. Agreste!" The shrewd teacher pursed her purple-painted lips. "Hopefully you will learn a thing or two from Marinette during your tutoring session today."

"Oh, that's not-"

"He's teaching me, Ms. Mendeleiev." Marinette interrupted, her naturally perfect eyebrows furrowing with a disapproval she saved for this teacher alone. "For history. Not science."

Ms. Mendeleiev frowned deeply, even though she was used to the criticizing ring to the young girl's voice. "Well then you will also work on science together. I want both of your grades to become impeccable in my class, seeing as how you both seem to think you know so much about it. Quiz on friday, everyone."

A groan echoed through the classroom as eleven annoyed kids turned to glare at Marinette and Adrien.

...

"Cheese, didn't you hear me?" Plagg flies around my head, creating dizzying loops that make my vision blur over.

"Hide, Plagg. Marinette will be here any minute." I try to catch him, but he slips out of my grip before my fingers can close around his slick black fur.

Plagg rolls his eyes and zooms just out of my reach. "I'm hungry, cheese man. Where's my camembert?"

"I have camembert in my backpa-"

"I ate that."

"In my gym bag-"

"I ate that, too."

"The side pocket?"

"Yep."

"The other side pocket?"

"Yep."

"Plagg, you're such a glutton!" I snatch him out of the air and quickly slide him into my gym back as softly as possible, trying my best not to hurt his tiny body in my rush. Just as I pull the zipper closed, I hear Marinette's soft footsteps.

"Adrien?" Her voice is quiet and soft, as if the silence of the library intimidates her as much as it does to me. "Adrien, are you here yet?"

"I'm over here." I call out, my voice cracking at the last word. I cringe at the warbled noise.

Marinette adjusts her jacket as she walks around the corner of a bookshelf. She wears the usual sweater and pink jeans, which are a pale shade of mauve today. Her shirt is a snow white color, lacking the usual hand embroidered flowers around her collar. She'd really make a great fashion designer, come to think of it.

But Marinette didn't come here for career advice.

"Ready to get started?" I pull out my history textbook and smile fondly, remembering that Ladybug has one just like it. I have to dig around for my notebook for a bit; Plagg had messed up the originally perfect organization of my schoolwork in his search for camembert. When I look up, Marinette is already sitting at the edge of the sofa, her textbook and notebook on the mahogany table in front of us.

"R-ready when are you. You are when! Are when- nevermind." She turns forward and opens her textbook to a previously bookmarked page and opens to the corresponding notes in her composition notebook. Her face is completely red, and her fingers are trembling.

"You already have the notes." I smile encouragingly, hoping to calm her down. "Now all we have to do is read over them, and then see if we remember what we've read."

She nodded, pulling her book into her lap. I looked at her pretty bluebell eyes, trying to decide what they reminded me of, when her gaze flashed up at my face. I realize that I'd been gaping.

"Well," I clear my throat and continue, "Let's get to it."

...

I bounced all over the room, my excitement making my rose-colored aura even brighter. Marinette had managed to finish an hour of tutoring with Adrien without fainting! I giggled as she tossed a cookie into the air. I dove after it, letting her play the game of fetch so that I could eat more chocolate chips.

"He was totally staring at you, Marinette." I spin in the air, then glide over to her desk to sit on her soft, pink purse.

"Tikki!"

"No, honestly!" I munch on my cookie with a quizzical expression on my face. "Actually, he looked a little bit confused. I thought I sensed something, too... I definitely smelled..."

"Are you trying to tell me that Adrien stank? Well, I, for one, didn't notice, thanks." Marinette unties her pigtails and runs a brush through her blue-black hair, ignoring my fervent head shaking. "Anywho, I'm really happy it's over. Happy that it happened, too, but I don't know how in the world I'll survive another hour on wednesday. Then on friday!"

Watching Marinette groan and lay her head on the desk brought on a bout of pity. I lay a tiny hand across her cheek and sigh. "Talking to him with a purpose might help you get used to talking to him about other stuff."

"What's that?"

"Well, you two just read and talk about what you read, right?" I float back, my body moving leisurely as if suspended in water. "So once you get used to saying stuff to him, you'll be able to talk to him... normally."

"The fact that I need to practice that skill is embarrassing." She brushed her fingers through her bangs and smiled softly. "But was he really staring?"

"Yes!"

...

I swerved back and forth in the air, my stomach rumbling. Adrien opened a container of camembert for me, offering me the last slice. I dove for it with a happy feeling in my empty stomach.

"Did Marinette seem off today, Plagg?" Adrien bit the inside of his cheek and revolved slowly in the spinning chair at his desk. "I mean, I know we're friends, so we obviously get along, right? She seemed upset. Almost... nervous?"

My rapid chewing slowed to a stop, then began again with a frenzy. I swallowed my bite of cheese and sat the rest of the slice on his nightstand. Had he finally figured it out? Please, oh, I hope to all the Guardians...

"I dunno. I'm probably being ridiculous." He chuckled as he said the words, but I saw confusion in his brow. Maybe he would figure it out. Maybe. I'd seen the way that girl acted around him; With all the stuttering, blushing, and fumbling, it was hard not to tell she had a crush on him. After thousands of years of Ladybug and Chat becoming lovebirds and couples, I wanted a civilian to steal the superhero's heart. Just this once, at the very least.

"You probably are," I agreed, picking up my cheese and nibbling at the corners. I paused thoughtfully and then swallowed my bite of food. "I mean, what could possibly have upset her? She didn't sound angry or sad to me. Just nervous."

Adrien looked up at me and arched one of his perfectly plucked eyebrows. "You sound interested. Are you interested? Is this interesting? You've hardly touched your cheese, Plagg; what's wrong?"

"What?" I swallowed the rest of the cheese whole, so as to not seem too suspicious. I flew lazily around the air in front of him and continued, "Am I not allowed to care about a conversation?"

"No. You never do. All you care about is cheese." Adrien scoffed.

"That's harsh, Adrien." I placed the tip of my arm over my chest and frowned deeply, exaggerating my melodramatic words as much as possible. "It hurts! Oh, the pain!"

A smile pulled at his well-groomed face, which put a grin on my own. I sighed and flew nearer to him. "Maybe I am a little interested. You're tutoring a very nice girl who makes very nice food, who's very brave, and smart, even if she does need tutoring."

"Yeah, you're right." Adrien turned to his computer. I'm right? I'm right? As in, he agrees with me?

"I mean, she does hold her cool during Akuma attacks." I continue slowly, picking through an empty cheese container for crumbs. "She also subtly sasses and manipulates that science teacher all the time. I like her drawings, too. I think your dad liked her derby hat for that one competition, don't you think?"

"You really like Marinette." Adrien pulled a strange expression that showed a surprisingly uncommon mix of suspicion and confusion. "Why do you like Marinette more than my other classmates, Plagg?"

"I do not like her more than your other classmates."

"Lady Wifi. Her full name?"

My silence seemed to give him a smug feeling, but he just got up and went to one of his many bookshelves instead of pushing me further. That's one of the many things I liked about Adrien. He never pushed people to talk if it made them uncomfortable, even if it would prove him right.

"Look, Adrien," I say with a sigh, floating around a book he was examining. "I just think she's very... She's good. Well... Why do you like Ladybug, Adrien?"

"Why do I like Ladybug?" He repeated confusedly, "Because she's so brave. She's cunning, and smart, and she's a natural leader. She keeps her head in a crisis and never backs down from a challenge. She's kind, too, and apologetic when she realizes she hasn't been nice. I just... I can't describe all of the reasons why I love her. I just do."

I nodded and continued hesitantly, "But Ladybug hasn't ever really seemed... romantically interested in you, has she?"

"Well, no, but-"

"And Marinette is brave. Marinette protected that girl she babysat and stands up to that blonde girl, who is the biggest evil in her life, probably. Marinette willingly let herself be bait and tried to help you catch the Evillustrator that one time. Marinette's cunning and smart and a natural leader. Marinette manipulates people with more authority into giving her what she wants without even realizing they're doing it. Marinette is your class representative. Marinette helped everyone that one time with Darkblade. She never lets that blonde push her or anyone else around."

"Yes, but Plagg-"

"Marinette chases after people when they're upset and makes great efforts to help them feel better. She's saved countless people from being akumatized and that's exactly what Ladybug does."

"She's not-"

"She's not Ladybug, I know, Adrien, but she's still good and- my gosh, do I have to spell it out for you, Adrien?"

"What do you mean, Plagg?" With a tilt of his head, I lost my composure.

"She's been crushing on you since you showed up at school, Adrien, and she might actually grow to love you if you would show her more of who you really are so please just give her a chance because she's the only one besides me who actually cares about who you actually are instead of your pretty face!"

...

Marinette rushes home after her hour of studying on wednesday, her eyes flashing up to the cloudy sky every few seconds. She and Adrien had finished all of their homework for the day, which was actually better to do with a friend to laugh and study with rather than alone in her room. Well, mostly alone, but she doubts Tikki knew much about plasma, the newest topic of torture Ms. Mendeleiev had assigned.

He'd acted very strange today. Marinette's brain draws in ideas as to why he blushed and stuttered and shifted throughout the hour, only to push them back out. Her thoughts drag back and forth like ocean waves. Maybe he's becoming sick.

But he didn't seem to have a cough, or congestion, or any loss of voice...

There's a chance he could have been tired.

He acted so lively and interested, though, and not at all fatigued...

Maybe he just felt overworked.

But he...

Marinette draws nothing substantial from her sea of silent words, and instead shakes them from her head and climbs up the stairs to her home. She sighs and pops her ankles before climbing up another set of stairs to reach her room, calling out a happy greeting to her mother as she passes by.

Once at her desk, Marinette pulls out a sketchbook and begins to draw a flurry of ideas that had entered her brain earlier that day. With her focus consumed by the pages before her, minutes trickle into hours until suddenly it's dinner time.

"How was school, Marinette?" Her mother questions lightly as she dishes some steamed vegetables onto her daughter's plate. "And tutoring? Do you have it with that Adrien boy?"

"Mama," Marinette groans despite the smile peeking at the corners of her lips. She spears a carrot with her fork. "School and tutoring are both going great, thanks. Adrien is tutoring me, yes."

"Nice boy, Adrien," Her father says after swallowing a mouthful of garlic bread. "Isn't he the one you've been fawning over since-"

"Tom!"

"Dad!"

"Alright, alright!" He laughs and eats with a thoughtful expression on his face. After a few moments of content silence, he pipes up again, "I just hope he fawns over you, too."

Being unable to answer due to a mouth full of food, Marinette only makes a series of unintelligable noises. Her mother speaks in her place.

"Yes, honey, because despite the silly things they might say," She pokes her husband in the arm, mouth twisted into a small grin, "You should find someone who will always have your back. Someone who will always be there for you. It's like..."

Marinette swallows the hot food and cocks her head. "It's like?"

"It's like, you don't just need someone to obsess over, sweetheart," Marinette listens to her mother and watches as she leans against her father's arm. "But someone to obsess over you."

...

My ears felt hot before I even walked into the classroom. Green flashed up to meet blue, although her gaze didn't catch mine, so I let it linger for a moment. Nino's relaxed greeting pulls my attention away from Marinette.

"Hey, you good, bro?" His eyebrows furrowed with worry, but they were soothed by a quick smile from me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Nino."

Ms. Bustier gathered a stack of papers and walked around the front of her desk. Something seemed off about her. Her bright sea blue eyes were bloodshot, and the skin around them was puffy. Her trashcan was full of tissues, making me think she may have been crying before class started.

Another voice, this one lighter and sweeter than Nino's, sounded from behind me with urgency. "Ms. Bustier, watch out!"

Then I see the blackened butterfly land on one of the many pages in her stack of worksheets. How had Marinette noticed that?

"Everyone out!" Marinette's tone had turned hard, strong. A voice that was authoritative. Demanding, even. "Warn people along the way, let's go!"

As the glowing butterfly mask disappeared from around Ms. Bustier's face, her body became encased in a bubbling purple-black substance. All I saw of her newly Akumatized form was a pair of white shoes when suddenly a hand grabbed mine and pulled me out the door.

"Go home, Adrien!" Marinette ordered, letting go of my hand as she turned back to the classroom.

I nodded and ran not towards the doors of the school, but through the crowd of distressed teenagers and into the empty bathroom.

"Claws out, Plagg!" I grinned as I transformed into the more natural, more free-spirited side of myself. I was vaulting over the rush of students and sprinting for the classroom in a flash, only to find a giant hole in the wall and a shivering Rose hiding under a table.

Rose looked up at me, taking a few deep breaths before she said, "She's calling herself The Teacher. She took my friend Marinette, Chat Noir! You have to save her!"

I dove out of the window and leapt across Paris, propelled by my baton. I could have really used Ladybug's help right about then. Instead, all I got was the boasting calls from my former teacher. She was almost to the Eiffel Tower now (why do Akumas always seem to go there?), followed by a horde of what seemed to be zombie-like creatures made purely from paper. I called Ladybug on the baton, but received no reply from her.

A grimace pulled at my face as I caught sight of Marinette, caught between three of the paper minions. Despite the numbers against her, she was holding her own quite well; she continuously broke free from her captors, only to be dragged back by some of the others in the crowd. The breath in my throat caught itself in a growl just as the Teacher reached the Eiffel Tower. Where was Ladybug?

Time was up: I couldn't wait for my partner any longer.

I dropped to the ground in front of the Teacher and beamed. "Let Marinette go, Ms. Bustier."

"I am not Ms. Bustier!" She growled, her painted white face shrouded with anger. "I am the Teacher! I will destroy ungrateful pupils of Paris! Starting with her!"

"Where'd you get the idea that I'm ungrateful, Ms. B- Teacher?" Marinette grumbled, trying to shake the papery hands from her arms.

"Silence!" She whipped her hand around, sending a twister of papers into the air. One flew out, heading straight for me. I hit it with my baton, knocking it aside. She launched three more.

Where are you, Ladybug? I thought frantically as I dodged every projectile flying my way. Eventually I slid through an alleyway, deciding that it would be best to catch Marinette's captors by surprise rather than head-on. The group continued forward, with five of them staying behind to find me. Well, let them try to catch me. I was already halfway to the tower without their noticing my progress.

The Teacher and her papery minions had stopped under the tower, Marinette writhing at the heart of the crowd. The Teacher waved her hands, sending most of them off in different directions to do who even knows what. Now was the time.

I leapt in, hitting The Teacher on the side of the head as I landed. I ran to Marinette and beat a few of the paper people, then turned to take care of the others only to see that she already had herself.

"Chat Noir, look out!" She exclaimed, knocking me aside. A dark paper, blackened by the powers of the Akuma, flew between our noses as we fell, barely missing us. She'd grabbed my head midfall so that when we landed it was cradled against her shoulder instead of bleeding on the pavement. She rolled away and was standing up in a blink. I laid there for a moment, gaping.

"I'm going to go make sure my friends and parents are okay, Chat Noir." She looked down at me for a second, then ducked as another paper shot towards her. She waved to me and sprinted away.

...

Flashes of the previous day's battle cropped up in my mind like weeds. I rubbed my eyes, trying to get her face out of my rambling daydreams. Usually during boring lessons my mind would drift away, filled with visions of her bright blue eyes only made more intense by the outline of her red mask.

Today, though...

Today there was no mask. No Ladybug at all. Today, in the middle of a monotone lecture, I was thinking about Marinette.

She sat right behind me, too, paying rapt attention to Ms. Bustier. Even if I was not really looking, I could see her: pencil blurred over a paper as she hurriedly scribbled notes to sort through with me during tutoring the next day. I could see her blue-black pigtails turning towards the ceiling as she gradually hunched over her notebook, subconsciously easing into a slouch only to straighten suddenly. It was a recurrence that seemed to appear when she was especially focused on something.

I rubbed my eyes again.

Focus, Agreste.

The school day trudged forward until eventually it was time to go home. I checked my schedule and sighed. Photoshoot.

...

My hands trailed softly over my upper arms, gracing over the fading bruises from the akuma attack. Tikki shifted in my bag. Class had been boring.

I walked home. I worked on homework. I ate dinner and then I went to bed, a layer of cloudy sleepiness fogging up my senses. I made sure to snag a cookie for Tikki on my way to the stairs.

My head seemed to stay asleep as I made my way to the breakfast table the next morning. I saw a bowl being set before me by my mother, filled with a hot cocoa-colored liquid. I drank, finding that it was coffee, and quickly finished. A buzz tingled in my mind.

Science came and went, along with PE, and before I knew it (before I'd been able to prepare myself for it, really) I was at the doorway of the library, knees shaking.

"You ready, Marinette?" An angelic voice flew through the air, originating from the blond-haired boy behind me. I started at the words, not having known that Adrien wasn't already inside.

With a nod and a few incomprehensible mutterings from me, we were off.

Off was right. Adrien was acting strange.

"Well, uh," He fumbled with the words, "I- oh- I thought maybe we could- we could, ah, we could work on our homework? Ahem, our homework from Ms. Mendeleiev. There's, uh, not much for History we can- uh, we can do right now."

Was that blush in his cheeks?

"So. Magnetic fields." His back straightened. "Do you- do you want to read th- this out," He cleared his throat. "Read this out loud? Or I could, if you- ah, I could."

He was stuttering profusely. His... embarrassment sent my confidence soaring.

"Are you alright, Adrien?" My voice, soft with the timid demeanor that came out around him, was inviting.

His voice rose a few octaves when he replied, "Yeah! Oh, no, yeah, I'm- I'm great. I'm fantastic, P- Mari- I'm great."

I reached out and placed my hand on his arm, only to feel goosebumps rise on his soft skin. I slowly stroked his arm with my thumb. He looked up at me, then to my cold hand on his hot skin, then back at me. His gaze rested somewhere on my cheek, not directly catching my eyes. He clenched his jaw and leaned forward slightly.

"Marinette," His voice was husky, "I have very strong feelings for you. Like, romantically. I think I really, really like you."

Then I couldn't focus. My vision blurred, but I could still hear his frightened words.

"I didn't even know until recently, I mean, that sounds weird, but I really didn't, I swear. The problem is I really like you but- but I also like another girl who acts just like you but different and that sounds gross and weird like I only like you because you're like her but that's not it at all, Mari, I swear-"

I press three fingers to his lips, silencing him.

I breathe.

"Mind if I ask who the other girl is?" I place my hand back at my side. "I'm not upset or anything, I'm just wondering."

"You're going to laugh." He's whispering now.

"No, I'm not, Adrien." I try my best to keep my voice from shaking with emotion. It was finally happening. He liked me and I liked him and everything was great and perfect, except that he liked another girl, but other than that-

"Ladybug. I like Ladybug."

...

What is blood, and where did all of mine just go. My hands are shaky and pale. My face is probably just as pasty. My knees trembled.

Before me, wearing her normal attire (red bodysuit with black polka dots) was Ladybug. Except she wasn't Ladybug, she was actually Marinette. Except she is Ladybug. That means that Marinette is Ladybug. Ladybug is Marinette.

How did I honestly miss that?

They looked exactly alike! Same hair, height, weight, same eyes! That's why they looked so familiar that first day in the library. Because they were her's. They were Ladybug's eyes. Marinette's eyes.

Memories flashed through my mind.

I almost kissed Ladybug during the filming of Nino's movie before Chloe interrupted. I sat with Ladybug in the front row to watch a play. I almost had a photoshoot with Ladybug. Ladybug saved the day in Evillustrator without her mask on. I have carried her to safety on numerous occasions. We talked about our romance problems on her balcony. I told her I loved her, to her face, under the moonlight, in the best way I could ever hope to imagine.

Marinette is Ladybug and Ladybug is Marinette and I've forgotten how to function properly.

"Adrien?" A smooth material brushed over my arm. Ladybug's gloved hand. "Adrien, breathe, please. Are you alright? Adrien? Tikki, spots off."

Another flash of light, and suddenly it's Marinette again. A red Kwami zooms around her head, speaking rapidly. Almost angrily. She sounds disapproving.

"Plagg, claws out!"

In just a few moments, I was safely hidden behind my mask. My partner stood before me, gawking, but my confidence had surged with the attainment of ears and a tail. Within the secrecy of being Chat Noir came the freedom to say and act as I please. To become someone I yearn to become. To escape the confines of fame and reputation. The mask wasn't hiding me, it was letting me go free.

"Are you KIDDING me?!"

My strength of will weakened with Marinette's exclamation of anger. My ears flicked uneasily as she continued,

"All this time, it's been YOU? Do you know how hard it was to actually form a coherent sentence around Adrien, but then YOU come along and turn into my CRIME-FIGHTING PARTNER. CHAT."

"Marinette, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean-"

Then something happened. She just... crossed the space between us, then closed the gap between our skin, and pressed her lips against mine. She kissed me. She interrupted my frantic apology to kiss me, which means she likes me even though I'm Chat Noir, which means...

"I love you, too, Chat." She whispered against my mouth, her hands sliding into my hair and getting tangled behind my ears. Suddenly, deep purrs resonated from somewhere in my chest or throat, maybe both, shaking us both. Blood returned to my face, rushing through my cheeks angrily. Marinette, however, happily leaned against my vibrating chest and sighed in what seemed to be a contented way. Her hands slid past her face and around my back, eveloping me in a loose hug. I kissed her forehead and wrapped my own arms around her.

As I rested my chin on the top her head, I smiled.


End file.
